Innovation lab gives youth the chance to unlock and accelerate social and economic potential of traditional agriculture sector This article was initially published by FAO China, and is reproduced for the e-Agriculture CoP 11/07/2018 . New initiatives can empower the traditional agricultural sector and enhance rural livelihoods, according to FAO China at the FAO Ag-Lab innovation incubation event, launched in Shijia Hutong Museum today in Beijing. Co-hosted by Tsinghua University, China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation and China Internet Information Centre (CIIC), the incubation event has...
Two days to discover agricultural robotics and exchange with pioneers in the field. The FIRA International Forum of Agricultural Robotics unites a wide range of agricultural players in order to exchange ideas and collaborate towards the future of agriculture. We aim to establish a community that...
News Release as published on FAO Website 25 June 2018, Rome - The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization and Pennsylvania State University joined forces to develop and launch an innovative, talking app - Nuru - to help African farmers recognize Fall Armyworm, a new and fast-spreading crop pest in sub-Saharan Africa, so that they can take immediate steps to destroy it and curb its spread. Fall Armyworm first appeared in Africa in 2016, in West Africa, and then rapidly spread across all countries in sub-Saharan Africa in 2017, infecting millions of hectares of maize, and threatening...
Do you know talented African web developers? As part of the ICT4D conference, John Deere is hosting a hackathon that seeks to improve African smallholder farmers' access to tractors. This application development competition is an opportunity for developers from across the continent to showcase their skills, connect with tech leaders from around the world, and develop tools to serve others. The winning teams will receive USD$2,000, USD$1,000, & USD$500 for 1st, 2nd & 3rd place respectively at the ICT4DConference , attended by technology leaders from around the world To learn more and...
It is widely believed that artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning will change the world, but how much are those innovations already contributing to improving the world? This webinar (part of an ongoing series around ICT4D) will explore how AI and machine learning tools can be applied and...
In January, l attended the webinar on Blockchain for Development, which was hosted by NETHOPE solutions. With the cryptocurrency buzz and the bitcoin bullish behavior l was curious to learn about this new technology and how it is applied in development and also how it can be assimilated within food and agriculture. The webinar title was “ Blockchain for Development: Moving from Hype to Reality ”. This was the fifth of the ongoing ICT4D webinar series by the NetHope community What is blockchain? It is a shared ledger that records the history of transactions -It cannot be altered without...
Highlights Blockchain and ICT4D Blockchain use cases in ICT4D Opportunities for blockchain In the past month within the ICT4D, blockchain is probably the most popular topic. The question that l feel resonates with many colleagues in the agricultural sector (and ICT4D) is that, what is this technology, and does it offer any value in international development work? It is with this self-inquisitiveness that l read the GSMA report entitled, ‘ Blockchain for Development: Emerging Opportunities for Mobile, Identity and Aid ”. My initial interest was to get practical applications and use cases of...
Agricultural insurance is essential for smallholder farmers, as plots of land are small and the consequences of crop diseases and climate change effects can be disastrous. Yeld loss and damage monitoring and verification can be long and laborious task, causing huge delays in settlements. Although new technologies have been applied, drones, micro-satellites, digital photography can help improve the monitoring of crops and yelds for smallholders and insurance companies. Remote sensing can be a key tool for farmers to prove their crop and harvest loss to insurance companies. At the same time,...
The Internet of Food & Farm 2020 (IoF2020) project investigates and fosters a large-scale implementation of Internet of Things (IoT) in the European farming and food sector. With a €30 million budget co-funded by the European Union, the project has the potential to bring a paradigm shift in this domain, by drastically improving productivity and sustainability - source . It will demonstrate the added value of smart webs of connected objects, that are context-sensitive and can be identified, sensed and controlled remotely in the agri-food sector. The project has started on January 1st 2017...
10,000 years of agricultural evolution can be largely grouped into just four development eras: Paleothic (early domestication of plants and animals), Antiquity (roughly the 2000 years BCE, in which more efficient farming systems were developed), the Modern Era (roughly 1700 to 1900 when mechanization and fertilizers emerged) and the Green Revolution (1930s-60s, when transformative crop genetics and fertilization practices developed). As with so many things, the pace of change- even in agriculture- is increasing rapidly, and it turns out that even agriculture is not immune to the changes of...
Two days to discover agricultural robotics and exchange with pioneers in the field. The FIRA International Forum of Agricultural Robotics unites a wide range of agricultural players in order to exchange ideas and collaborate towards the future of agriculture. We aim to establish a community that...
